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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175639">Against The Odds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/megnlv/pseuds/megnlv'>megnlv</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Victorious (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Natural Disasters, get ready for heavy friendship feels, originally posted on FFnet, pansexual cat valentine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:41:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/megnlv/pseuds/megnlv</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A trip abroad to Thailand to celebrate graduating Hollywood Arts sounds like paradise. And it is...until, suddenly, it isn't, and the gang find themselves facing the biggest challenge of their lives: a tsunami. </p><p>(based loosely off of The Impossible).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beck Oliver/Jade West, Cat Valentine &amp; Jade West, Sam Puckett &amp; Cat Valentine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. one</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come on, babe, this will be fun.” </p><p>“That’s what everyone said before we got imprisoned in Yerba because Vega <em> blinded </em>the chancellor,” Jade said haughtily. She watched from the edge of her boyfriend’s bed as he stuffed a flannel shirt into his suitcase unceremoniously, and fought the retort rising in her throat. Did boys not care about wrinkles in their clothes?</p><p>Beck ran his fingers through his hair. “This is different,” he said. “We’re not performing for anybody, so Tori can’t accidentally pierce someone’s eyeball with her heels this time. And this is Thailand, it’s not at war. Just nice sandy beaches to relax on and great food.”</p><p>“Cancun has nice sandy beaches and great food,” Jade challenged, pursing her lips. Beck gave her a look.</p><p>“Don’t be so sour.” He reached over and tapped her nose with his finger, and was gone to his closet before Jade could slap his hand away. “Is this because everyone else is going and you’d rather it just be you and me? We get our own hotel room this time - did you see the pictures? It looks like a mini house.”</p><p>“Yeah, I saw the pictures,” Jade said. She bit at the skin around her thumb in thought.</p><p>“Good, so you know what a sweet deal this is,” Beck threw a pair of swim trunks in his suitcase and pressed the pile of clothes down. Jade swore he cared more for his hair products, which had a special spot in his suitcase off toward the side, than he did having nice, wrinkle-free clothes. He smiled over at her and approached her on the bed, grabbing her face between his hands and looking down at her. “It’s a seven day all-inclusive trip, on Tori’s parents. No dinner fees or hotel fees. We don’t have to spend a dime on anything but our plane tickets. It’s just us, getting to spend quality time with our friends to celebrate graduating. This is a huge milestone in our lives, Jade. What’s a better way to spend it than in paradise with the people that we love?”</p><p>Jade said nothing and stared up at him, green eyes squinted in a challenge. <em> You got me, </em> they said, <em> but convince me more. </em>And what she loved about Beck, was that he always compiled to a challenge.</p><p>“We don’t have to spend every waking moment with them,” he pressed on. The pad of his thumb traced over her cheekbone softly. “We’ll have one day, all to ourselves, doing whatever you wanna. I’ll take you out on a nice dinner date, just the two of us, and then we could spend the rest of the night in bed and watch the sunrise…”</p><p>Her lips pulled slowly into a smile, instinctive with the way his smooth voice rose in anticipation. “I guess it’ll be fun,” she said. “But if Vega or Robbie bothers us on our day alone, I make no promises that they’ll return to America in one piece.”</p><p>“They won’t bother us,” Beck said. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers; warm and inviting and familiar, tasting of salt and the Pepsi he was drinking. Their lips glided together smoothly, and made a soft noise as they parted, but Beck kept very close to her. She took in every breath that left him. “I promise you babe, we’ll have the time of our lives.”</p><p>She tilted her head up for one last, lingering kiss before pulling away and standing up. “You need to finish packing,” she observed, pointing at his messy suitcase beside her own, neatly packed and shut. “I didn’t even want to go but I finished two days ago, and went over everything at least three times. I can’t believe you waited until the last minute.”</p><p>Beck shrugged, indifferent. “I’ve been busy, you know, with stuff.” Jade quirked a brow. “What? I won’t forget anything.”</p><p>“Right,” she laughed. “Sure you won’t. How could anybody ever forget something like, I don’t know, pants?”</p><p>“Impossible,” Beck agreed, and after a moment of staring at each other in silence, he rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. He yanked his dresser drawer open, grabbing several pairs of jeans, and Jade was sure to point out that he also forgot a fair amount of boxer shorts as well. “Fine, fine, I forgot a few things. I guess that’s why I still have you around to remind me.”</p><p>“Always glad to help.”</p><p>After going through everything with him twice, Beck shut his suitcase and pressed on it so it would zipper properly, but struggled to keep it down. “And what about you, Ms. Checklist? I’m sure you forgot something.” Jade shook her head and shrugged. “No? What about sunscreen? You’re ridiculously pale, you’re going to fry without it.”</p><p>Jade snorted, her smile bemused. “I live in California, and I’m well aware of how white I am.” She pushed him out of the way and sat down on top of the suitcase, effectively holding it down while he moved to zipper it shut. “That was one of the first things that I packed. I’m not a forgetful person, Beckett. You know that.”</p><p>“I’m sure Tori does, too,” Beck commented.</p><p>“Who cares?” She asked, waving a hand dismissively at him. “That’s all in the past. The closer to the end of senior year, the more everyone started growing up, even Cat, of all people. I’ve over it. I’m not petty.”</p><p>Beck’s eyebrows raised skeptically.</p><p>“Okay, fine, whatever. I am petty, but that’s <em> only </em> because I want to be.” She pointed at him to get her point across, narrowing her eyes. “But I’m over it, that whole drama with Tori, you know that I am. I...tolerate being around her, now. She’s not.. <em> that </em>bad. You know, for her.”</p><p>“That’s a good girl.” Her boyfriend smiled, playfully, and leaned to kiss her on her cheek. He dusted his hands off on his sweatpants, and nodded toward his bed. “We should get some rest, babe. We have an early flight tomorrow.”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Jade drawled, tilting her head to the side. “I’m not really up for sleeping.”</p><p>“No? Then what do you want to do?”</p><p>Jade only smirked.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re going to Thailand <b>without </b>me.”</p><p>“You left me in jail! For <em> two </em>weeks!” Cat cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation.</p><p>Sam dragged herself into the living room and plopped down lethargically onto their <em> That’s a Drag </em>couch, one leg hanging over the back. Cat could never understand how she found that comfortable. Sam was clad still in her pajamas, blonde hair tangled and messy, eyes heavy-lidded with sleep. It was early; the sun was not due to be up for another four hours, but Cat was buzzing with nervous energy. She hadn’t even slept, spending all night getting ready and doing last minute packing. Sam, on the other hand, had only just roused herself from a deep sleep to see her out. “Touche,” she huffed.</p><p>“Besides,” Cat continued on with a delicate shrug, collecting a bottle of pills from the kitchen cabinet and tossing them into her carry-on before she forgot. “Carly’s going to be visiting in a few days and you’ll have a nice break from babysitting. And you don’t have to stay with Nona and listen to her weird stories no one ever understands.”</p><p>“Yeah, but Nona makes me meatballs.”</p><p>“So do I!”</p><p>Her roommate lolled her head over the side of a British Invasion pillow and groaned. “Fine, I guess I’ll just have to chill and go on adventures with Dice until Carls gets to Seattle since you won’t be around. Because hanging out with twelve year olds is fun.”</p><p>Cat’s lips dipped into a soft frown. “Come on, Sam,” she whined. “Don’t make me feel all bad for leaving you.”</p><p>Sam raised her head and gave her a small grin; a large feat considering how early in the morning it was. “I’m only teasing, Cat,” she said. “You deserve this trip anyway, I guess. That performance you did for the senior showcase at your school was amazing, dude. Who knew you had such a big voice trapped in that tiny body.” Cat’s cheeks flushed. Sam, who was not fond of handing out compliments, always seemed to have something positive to say about her singing. “Anyway, the Dice-man is pretty cool. I’ll survive.”</p><p>“Thanks. Maybe when I get back we’ll go somewhere exciting,” Cat suggested, using her reflection in the back glass door to make herself more presentable. She was wearing a baggy white sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans with heels, and she let her hair down beneath a light grey knit beanie to flow her back and shoulders in long dark red waves and ringlets.</p><p>Sam had said earlier that she looked like a red velvet cheesecake.</p><p>“Yeah?” Sam questioned, looking over at her curiously. “Like where?”</p><p>“I always wanted to go to New York,” Cat said with a shrug, smiling over at her and propping herself up on one of the barstools. “Ooh, we could see something on Broadway! That’d be so much fun!”</p><p>Sam pursed her lips, and Cat was pleasantly surprised to see that she was considering the idea with a genuine interest. “We’ll discuss when you get back.”</p><p>Before Cat could reply, her PearPhone beeped on the kitchen counter, and she reached to read the message quickly. “André just texted. He and Tori are picking me up to meet the others at the airport, they’re here already!” Cat said hurriedly, grabbing the handle of her suitcase and rushing to the front door of her apartment. She paused after opening it and turned, smiling softly as her roommate rose from the couch. “Hugs for the road?”</p><p>“Ugh, fine,” Sam grimaced half-heartedly. </p><p>Cat launched herself at her with a squeal of happiness and held onto her tightly, overwhelmed with the sudden realization of how much she was going to miss her. They stood in the doorway for a moment before Cat pulled away. If she stayed there any longer, Sam would have likely pushed her off.</p><p>She smiled softly as she reached for her suitcase and carry-on. “Say bye to Dice and Goomer for me,” she said, and then, quieter. “Bye, Sam.”</p><p>Sam saluted her, a ghost of a smile on her lips. “See ya, kid. Have fun.”</p><p>“Oh, and don’t worry, I left you a container of meatballs in the fridge!”</p><p>“You really get me,” Sam said, pointing at her and waggling her finger, her smile growing, and Cat knew that those meatballs would be gone before the day was even over. “Send me pics and all that chizz. Good times, Red!”</p><p>“Happy days!”</p><p>With one last wave, Cat shut the door to her apartment behind her and made her way through the plaza of her complex, lugging her bags heavily behind her. Venice was quiet so early in the morning, and just a block away from the ocean, Cat could smell the salt of the sea in the air - and despite having been there for a year, she didn’t think she would ever get used to living so close to the beach.</p><p>André was leaning against the side of his car, his hands in his jean pockets and the sleeves to his dark blue and black striped shirt rolled up to his forearms. His melodic voice carried along the street as he talked animatedly to Tori through the open passenger side window, and he turned to greet Cat with a charming smile when they heard her approaching.</p><p>“‘Sup, Lil Red?” André called, pushing himself from his car and moving to take her suitcase from her. She saw Tori reach to pop the trunk, and he hauled it inside with very little effort. “You all set to hit the road?”</p><p>“Hey, hey!” She smiled, waving at her best friends ardently. “Yep, I’m so excited!”</p><p>“Well, hop in!” Tori said as André moved to return to the driver’s seat. “We have a plane to catch and we have to be at the airport early. Robbie’s already been there for thirty minutes.” </p><p>Cat climbed into the backseat behind André. Music was playing faintly through the AUX cord, upbeat and cheery, and she knew that once they got going it would be blasting and they’d all be singing along to whatever song that came on.</p><p>“Rob’s not very good with time management,” André commented, shaking his head but keeping his eye on the mostly empty road ahead of them.</p><p>Tori hummed in agreement, fixing her glasses. She normally never wore them outside the comfort of her own home; Cat never knew why, she thought she looked nice in them. “You guys ready for this crazy long flight?” She asked, and Cat dug through her bag to produce her passport and plane ticket.</p><p>“I’m kind of nervous,” Cat admitted shyly, frowning slightly. “Sixteen hours is such a long time.”</p><p>“Aw, don’t be so scared Lil Red.” André’s voice was sympathetic, and he briefly met her eyes in the rearview mirror with a reassuring smile. He was always so assuring, and always had the right thing to say. “You can sleep, or find something to occupy yourself with. But with all the transfers that we have to do, it should go by pretty quick. It’ll all be worth it once we land.” </p><p>“Oh, yeah,” Tori said, staring down at her own plane ticket studiously but throwing Cat a contagious grin of excitement over her shoulder. “Minneapolis, Washington DC - we even get to spend two hours in <em> Paris </em> before the next plane leaves. That’s a lot more exciting than seeing the White House, don’t ya think?” She wiggled her fingers. “By the end of this trip we’ll practically be world travelers. I’ll consider that an accomplishment.”</p><p>Cat gasped and clapped her hands together. “Can we go to the Mall of America?” She asked. With a father whose job moved around frequently, Cat had done her fair share of traveling and living around the states before settling in California when she was twelve, but being with her friends made it all the more exciting. </p><p>“Sure thing, Cat,” André said with a laugh. “Sure thing.”</p><p>He reached to turn the volume dial up to blare the music, cruising down the highway with the windows rolled down. Cat leaned back against the leather seat with a content smile, her voice harmonizing with Tori’s as they sang along to the song that was playing.</p><p><em> This was going to be the best vacation ever </em>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>As much as André had been growing agitated by the long flights, anxious to breathe fresh air and be on solid ground again, his excitement had never quite died down.</p><p>He stared out the window of the plane, high above pure white clouds, taking in the scenery around them. The pilot had announced that they would be landing soon, and his heel bounced against the floor in anticipation. Thailand, from a bird's eye-view, was breathtaking in a way he couldn’t have imagined. A far stretch from the sight that had once greeted them just before they landed in Yerba. And having never been outside the country before aside from that, André couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. </p><p>Traveling around the world had been a far-fetched dream of his long before becoming a music producer ever was. He remembered sitting in his bedroom with Cat and Jade when they were thirteen years old, talking about all the places they would go and the things that they would do.</p><p>On his left, Tori and Robbie were chatting freely, their mouths stretched in identical smiles of excitement. Tori was musing about the view, and how she demanded a window seat on the way home. Jade, who was sitting on the other side with Cat, who had been focused intently on drawing in her new sketchbook the entire flight from Paris, and Beck, snoring away with his head thrown back, promptly told her to suck it up with a surprising lack of venom. </p><p>“Hey, bud,” Tori reached across Robbie’s chest and tapped his arm, holding out her phone. “Take a picture of the view for me, please? It’s soo beautiful, and I want as many pictures of this trip as possible.”</p><p>It was. André took her PearPhone from her and aligned it with the window, making sure there wasn’t a glare when he snapped a few photos. He double checked to make sure they were decent before giving it back, and she smiled gratefully at him. </p><p>“Man, I can’t wait until we land,” said Robbie, rubbing his stomach. “I feel a little nauseous. I don’t think I should have eaten that dessert that they gave us. I’m not really sure what it was, but it looked good. My stomach doesn’t really agree.”</p><p>André pulled a face. “If you’re gonna puke, puke on Tori.”</p><p>“What! André!” Tori gaped in disbelief, side-eying Robbie skeptically. “Please, please don’t puke and ruin the beginning of our vacation.”</p><p>Robbie rolled his eyes when a passenger behind them mumbled in disgust, and leaned his head back against the leather blue seat. “I’m not going to be sick!” He said adamantly, although his stomach gurgled noisily. He kept his voice fairly quiet, as to not disturb the others riding in the plane with them. “But... I should probably use the restroom before we land.”</p><p>Tori leaned back as he suddenly rushed out of his seat, raising her hands at shoulder level. “Oh, gross,” she groaned, and André met her grimace with one of his own. </p><p>“That’s just nasty,” he said.</p><p>“You’re telling me.”</p><p>The rest of the flight went by, fortunately, fairly quick. Robbie had returned looking less pale and clammy, and André felt a rush of relief when he felt solid ground beneath his feet. He had been sure his restlessness would drive him crazy if they’d been up there for another hour - and by the look on Cat’s face, although she had managed to distract herself, he could tell that he was not the only one relieved to be off of that plane. </p><p>Once everyone received their luggage from pick up, Tori announced that a bus would take them to the Khao Lak Resort, where they would be staying, a journey of just over an hour by road. “Okay,” she said, drawing out the word for a moment as they waited outside the airport. “Beck and Jade get their own room, and Robbie and André will be staying with me and Cat. That sound good with everyone?”</p><p>“Splendid,” said Robbie, grinning over at her, and Cat giggled quietly, slipping on a pair of sunglasses.</p><p>“God,” Jade groaned, throwing her head back as Beck rubbed her back comfortingly. “I cannot take sitting for another hour and a half. I’m going to go insane.”</p><p>“Me either,” André agreed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “A dude can only take so much traveling in one day before it gets annoying.”</p><p>“Oh come on, guys!” Tori said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up. “We’re in <em> Thailand </em>, we’re officially starting our vacation! Can we take a minute to appreciate that without complaining after fifteen minutes of being here?” She sighed when no one responded, and André saw her bringing up her notes on her PearPhone. “I was going to wait until we got to the resort, but, since the bus isn't here yet, I thought I’d just share now. I made a to-do list, and -”</p><p>“A to do list? Seriously?” Jade scoffed.</p><p>Tori narrowed her eyes and fought Jade’s flare with a fire of her own. “Yes, I made a list. I thought I’d write down some fun things we could do. Here,” she shoved her phone abruptly into Cat’s face, who yelped quietly, clearly startled. “Read it.”</p><p>Cat tentatively took the phone and cleared her throat: </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p><b>“</b> <em> Tori’s Thailand To-Do List </em> <b>:</b></p>
  <p><em> Fancy dinner night of arrival </em> <em><br/></em> <em> Scuba diving / snorkeling at Ko Samet </em> <em><br/></em> <em> Ko Samet nightlife </em> <em><br/></em> <em> Doi Suphet-Pui National Park </em><br/><em> Siam Park City (amusement park) </em> <em><br/></em> <em> Dusit Zoo </em> <em><br/></em> Dinner reservations for last day of trip <b>.”</b></p>
</blockquote><p>“I guess we know Vega’s not one for spontaneity,” Jade commented as Cat handed Tori back her phone. Her voice curled with amusement.</p><p>“We don't have to do everything on the list,” Tori said, rolling her eyes. “They're just suggestions.”</p><p>Cat raised her hand slightly, smiling. “I like your list, Tori.”</p><p>“It’s not bad,” André agreed, shaking his head.</p><p>“Thank you, guys,” Tori said, offering them a grateful look but pointedly glaring at Beck, Robbie, and Jade, who had all remained silent. </p><p>From Jade’s side, two suitcases at his feet, Beck reached up to rub tiredly at his eye. “I think that may be our ride,” he said, voice groggy with sleep as he nodded his chin to the road. Everyone turned to look as a forest green truck pulled over by the curb; it lacked glass windows, and the inside seats were leather and black, and the writing on the sides was all in Thai. André thought it looked a little something like a safari or a tour bus. </p><p>“Okay guys, this is us,” Tori announced, her smile a balm as she made her way to the bus doors. “To Khao Lak!”</p><p>Behind her, everyone cheered. </p><p>“To Khao Lak!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Spectacular.  </em>
</p><p>That was really the only word to describe it.</p><p>Tori never thought that, after living in Los Angeles, the sight of palm trees everywhere and white sand beaches could be any more beautiful than what she’d already been seeing her entire life. Thailand had taken it to a whole new level, with tropical forests and mist-covered mountain tops, and Tori spent the entirety of the ride to Khao Lak staring through the open windows, the breeze catching her hair, and gushing over the fact that she was ridiculously lucky to have the chance to be here and experience it all.</p><p>She couldn’t wait until she got the chance to peek into the local’s lifestyle here, but at the risk of sounding too much like the stereotypical tourist from America, didn’t say mention it. Different cultures had always interested Tori, growing up in a half-Hispanic household with a thirst for globetrotting. She only hoped that one day, when she made it big as a pop singer - <em> when, </em>because Tori had slightly unrealistic dreams but confidence in herself - she’d get to travel and see the world more often.</p><p>When they arrived at the Khao Lak Resort, Tori made a mental note to suck up to her parents for the rest of her life.</p><p>A pleasant young man lead Tori and the other’s to their respective rooms with a blindingly white smile. While Jade and Beck took the ground floor, Tori had taken the two bedroom one right above it on the second, with a balcony that overlooked the pool area and the beach only minutes away by foot. Tori followed him up a short flight of stairs with Cat, André and Robbie trailing close behind her.</p><p>“Here we are,” the man said, his English well structured but accented, opening the door to their hotel room and beckoning them inside. Like everything else Tori had seen so far, it was spacious and beautiful, with a living room and kitchen and two separate bedrooms down the hall and a bathroom they would share.</p><p>“Whoa daddy,” Cat said under her breath, scanning the area with wide brown eyes. </p><p>“I second that,” Robbie said. “This place is incredible.”</p><p>“We strive to have every room accommodate to our guests needs and make them feel at home,” the steward informed, clasping his hands in front of him. “You are visiting from the United States?”</p><p>“Los Angeles,” Tori answered, smiling.</p><p>“A long way from home.” He smiled back at her; Tori didn’t think that it had left his face since they first arrived, and wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that he was getting paid to do this or if he was just a genuinely nice person.</p><p>“It was well worth the trip,” Tori said earnestly. She wasn’t lying. They had only been here for a little over an hour and it was already worth the sixteen hour flight spent between several different planes.</p><p>He nodded, and reached to hand Tori four room keys, which she dispersed among her friends. After explaining where they could do their laundry and offering up some local hotspots and points of interest, he left them with one last, bashful beam. Tori made her way over to one of the living room couches, propping herself on the arm. “So, I figured Cat and I could share one room and you guys could get the other?” She suggested.</p><p>Cat gave her a dimpled grin. “Sounds good to me.”</p><p>André raised his eyebrows over at Robbie skeptically, who looked somewhat sheepish. “I get the bed,” he told him firmly, his chin jutted out as if in a challenge. Tori and Cat rolled their eyes and shared a look of both amusement and exasperation. Men’s masculinity was so fragile.</p><p>“Oh, relax. There are two beds, it said so on the website,” Tori informed, and her expression turned smug. “And, since I don’t mind sharing a bed with Cat, because I’m not a baby and this wouldn’t be the first time,” she ignored the way Robbie’s eyes suddenly widened, as if he had no idea how many sleepovers the two girls have had in the past three years of being best friends, “we get the <em> big </em>bedroom.”</p><p>“Yay, I love big rooms!” Cat squealed, grabbing her bags and racing off to the bedroom down the hall.</p><p>Leaving the boys to their argument over who would get the bed closest to the window, Tori stood and lugged her suitcases into the room after Cat. Her redheaded friend was laying in the middle of the bed on her back, texting. The bed was huge, and made Cat, who was already tiny, look impossibly small on top of it. “So, on a scale of one to ten, one being Yerba mattresses and ten being really soft, how comfortable is it?” Tori asked, dropping her belongings by a wooden dresser. </p><p>Cat’s eyes strayed from her phone and she pursed her lips, as if in deep thought. “It’s like laying on a fluffy cloud. Or on cotton candy,” she settled on, giggling quietly. She patted the mattress beside her. “Come feel!”</p><p>Tori complied - and then promptly wished she hadn’t. How on earth was she supposed to get up now?</p><p>“Jade said she would be up soon,” Cat said with a sigh, placing her phone beside her and folding her hands over her stomach gingerly. “She wants to check out the beach, but Beck wants to take a nap.”</p><p>“He can join us later,” Tori murmured. She figured Beck had a good idea as she fought to keep her eyes open. When it was becoming too tempting, she pushed herself up with her hands and forced herself off of the bed with a groan. Who knew sitting in the air for sixteen hours could be so exhausting. “Come on, we should go before we fall asleep and waste the day away. We should be pumped right now!”</p><p>“I am pumped!” Cat exclaimed and, as if to prove her point, hopped off of the bed graciously and skipped out of the bedroom, singing Robbie and André’s names on her way out. “Let’s go to the beach!”</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>“<em> André! </em> Put me down!”</p><p>Beck glanced up at the shrill voice, addled with a peel of familiar giggles, to see André hauling Cat into his arms as if she weighed nothing and racing toward the ocean where Robbie and Tori were wading. Jade had somehow managed to persuade Beck from his nap to join them at the shore, and he lounged next to her on a beach towel, trying not to doze off behind a pair of dark sunglasses. As it were, the white sand beaches and light blue water were infectious with peace and serenity and it was a much harder task than he thought it would be.</p><p>Up ahead, he could hear André’s boisterous laugh. “No way, Lil Red! You’re goin’ in!” He shouted, before promptly tossing Cat into the deeper waters with a squeal while Tori and Robbie howled in laughter.</p><p>His mouth quirked into a small grin, and he shook his head. Beside him, Jade was watching on beneath a large black sunhat, green eyes squinted. Beck reached and traced a finger over her arm. “You can join them you know,” he told her, nodding toward their friends. “You don’t have to keep me company just because I’m a little tired.”</p><p>“You’ll fall asleep and sizzle under the sun if I leave,” Jade commented, leaning back. “I don’t feel like going in the ocean.”</p><p>“It’s not as rough as it is in LA,” Beck said knowingly. “It’s calm.”</p><p>“Still the ocean,” Jade shrugged and closed her eyes, tilting her chin up. Beck didn’t bother continuing to push her to go. Jade was never very good with being in the sea; although she wasn’t afraid of it, she didn’t seem to like being in it very much at all, and never felt comfortable. </p><p>He hummed and sat up, stretching out his limbs and tucking a finger beneath his sunglasses to rub at his eye. If he laid down any more he would surely pass out. Ahead of them, he watched the others in the water, waving over at them when he caught their eyes. Beck was almost tempted to join them just to wake himself up - and it was beautiful and inviting, a tealish color much lighter than the Pacific - but Robbie had said it was warm, and Beck figured it would just make him more sleepy.</p><p>“You have any ideas for what you want to do for our day?” He asked, turning over his shoulder to his girlfriend.</p><p>Jade made a soft humming noise in her throat in consideration. “I’m thinking about it,” she said.</p><p>“I did some research in the travel pamphlets while we were waiting for everybody to get ready,” Beck said, hand digging into the soft sand, letting it fall between the creases of his fingers. “How do you feel about visiting the Ton Chong Waterfall?”</p><p>His girlfriend peered at him for a moment. “Waterfalls can be nice,” Jade said.</p><p>“Well, the pictures looked nice,” Beck shrugged, digging his feet into the hot sand. “It could be romantic. We could go on Wednesday. Spend a few days with the others first.”</p><p>“Whatever.”</p><p>Beck patted her knee before leaning back on his hands and closing  his eyes, inhaling salty ocean air through his nose. It felt nice to be able to unwind, to relax and soothe his grated nerves after pushing through customs and immigration at the airport, which had put him in somewhat of a sour mood. </p><p>After a while, they returned to the resort mid-afternoon, and Tori announced that she had made reservations for dinner, and that they should all shower and dress fairly nice. And although Beck was tired and couldn’t wait to finally be able to sleep, he also couldn’t wait to eat and get a taste of authentic Thai food - and he knew Jade was excited too; a not-so-secret foodie with a fast metabolism. </p><p>Of course, it took all of them hours to get ready, and by the time they arrived Beck’s stomach was turning over with a frenetic hunger and the day had settled into the beginnings of the evening. </p><p>The restaurant was as fancy as Tori had described it, just off of the shore and lined with tall palm trees and a spacious outdoor dining area, where they sat. Beck could look to his left and see the moon reflecting off of the ocean’s surface, could hear the gentle laps of the waves as they hit the coast. He sat down beside Jade, across from Cat and André, with Tori on the right end of the table and Robbie on the left, his back to the water.</p><p>Conversation was steady while they ordered and received their food and drinks, occasionally taking photos together, and Cat was finishing up a bizarre story about her roommate adventures when Beck cut in to speak.</p><p>“Alright, hold up for a second guys,” Beck interrupted, holding up one of his hands. Everyone at the table fell into silence, turning their expectant gazes on him. He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to tell everyone that I’m proud of us all. We’ve had a crazy four years at Hollywood Arts, and it’s hard to believe it’s already come to an end. Look at all we’ve accomplished in that time so young, and then look at how much we have to look forward to in the future. I’m not going to college, and not all of us are, but all I see for everyone is success in whatever we do. There’s no way this group of talented and bright people won’t make it far in life.”</p><p>“Amen, brother,” André said, raising his glass of water as if making a toast.</p><p>“Well said,” Tori agreed.</p><p>“I know that I’m going away to NYU in August,” Robbie began shyly, adjusting his glasses. “But I really do hope that we all stay as close as we are. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys, you know?”</p><p>“Of course we will, Robbie,” Cat said, her lips pulling into a soft dimpled smile. “Distance can't stop us all from being friends.”</p><p>Beck nodded. “Sure, Rob. And we’re all going to make the most out of the summer together, starting with this vacation.” Jade was staring at him proudly, her hand resting over his bicep and her thumb rubbing soothingly over tan skin. “It’s a perfect beginning to a new chapter of our lives. We’re moving on, but I know that we’ll always find a way to stick together.” </p><p>A chorus of murmured agreements went around the table before Jade spoke. “Okay,” she said, and her smile was easy-going in contrast to her usual smirk, and Beck felt his heart warm at the sight of it, “enough with the mushy-feely crap before someone starts crying over their dinner.”</p><p>Robbie discretely wiped his index finger beneath his eye before pulling a face. Beck didn’t think he noticed that everybody at the table saw him do it. “Psh, no one’s going to <em> cry </em>,” he said, as if the notion was ridiculous.</p><p>Jade smirked at him. “That’s what people say when they’re about to cry.”</p><p>“...Moving on,” Robbie cleared his throat. “What should we do tomorrow?”</p><p>Tori reached for her purse, but paused at Jade’s dramatic gripe and eyeroll. His girlfriend pressed her palm to her forehead, looking exasperated. “Don’t bring out your stupid little to do list,” she said. “I’d rather not spend my vacation following a schedule. This is supposed to be fun. Not a list of chores.”</p><p>“It’s just a list of suggestions!”</p><p>“It’s a schedule.”</p><p>“Jadey, don’t be mean,” Cat reprimanded, although her voice was not very stern and she looked as if she was biting back a laugh, her lower lip between her teeth. Jade shot her a look, lacking it’s usual bitterness as it typically did when it came to Cat, which went ignored. “Don’t feel bad about your schedule, Tori.”</p><p>Jade cackled, and Tori’s cheeks flushed red. “<em> It’s not a schedule! </em>” She cried, ignoring everyone’s laughter. Sighing with defeat, Tori went back to her food, pushing it around on her plate. “Fine, no to do list, then. Any ideas?”</p><p>“There’s a boat tour tomorrow afternoon,” Beck announced, recalling what he’d read on the pamphlet at the resort earlier that afternoon. “We could go snorkeling or diving, maybe see some of the nightlife after?”</p><p>“Funny you mention that,” Tori said, pointing her chopsticks at him, “because that was on my list.” Everyone around her collectively groaned, and she sank back into her seat with a grimace. “I’m just saying!”</p><p>“Anyway,” André said, saving Tori from another one of Jade’s biting comments, “snorkeling sounds cool. I’m in.”</p><p>“Me too!” Cat gasped. “We could be like mermaids! And Beck and André could be mermen!”</p><p>Robbie’s brow furrowed, looking offended. “What about me?”</p><p>Cat blinked at him, tilting her head with a blank expression. “If you say so.”</p><p>When they all finished their dinner, the restaurant provided all of them and the travelers around them sky lanterns, and they stood outside, ready to release them for good luck and fortunes and unburden them of their stress. He held his beside his friends, and the lanterns everywhere covered the area in a warm, orange glow.</p><p>“One,” the crowd chanted, “two - three!”</p><p>At once, everyone released their lanterns into the air.</p><p>Beck slung his arm over Jade’s shoulders as the people around them cheered, tucking her in close to his chest, and her arm wrapped around his waist, looking peaceful.</p><p>He stared up at the orange sky with a blissful expression, watching as hundreds of lanterns floated up into the night, carrying their worries away with them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>reviews greatly appreciated! :) getting to the real gritty stuff shortly.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tuesday, a day full of activities like waking up early to watch the sunrise, snorkeling and enjoying the nightlife around, meeting other travelers and locals, passed quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wednesday came around with clear blues skies and perfect weather. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The plan was to spend the morning at the resort pool with their friends before venturing off on their own and going their separate ways. As much as Beck would have enjoyed visiting one of the national parks with them, he was looking forward to his day with Jade much more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everybody ready?” He called as he and Jade entered the other’s upstairs hotel room. André was seated on one of the couches in a pair of dark red swim trunks, strumming a soft tune on his guitar, and Cat was tucked onto a chair across from him, clad in black denim shorts and a pink bikini top, bowed over the sketchbook she’d bought in Paris. Cat was a very spatial person, able to draw with a finesse and dexterity none of them could match. Beck supposed that was why she took such an interest in special effects makeup. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We are,” André said, fingers picking at the strings of his guitar. “Robbie’s not.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade made a disgruntled face as she leaned against the back of Cat’s chair, peering over her shoulder to see what she was drawing. “Of course not. What could possibly be taking that nerd so long? We’re just going to the pool, all he has to do is slip on a pair of shorts.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Robbie has a problem,” Cat said lightly, though she didn't look up from her drawing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck leaned against the kitchen island on his elbow. “What kind of problem?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André shook his head and set his guitar against the side of the couch, standing up. “He slipped on his socks and rammed his face straight into the counter, right where Beck’s standing.” André pointed, and Beck looked down as his girlfriend cackled in delight. “Now his nose is all bloody and his lip is split. Tori knows some stuff from her mom, so she’s helping him clean up,” he explained, turning toward the bathroom. “Yo, Tor! You guys almost done?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A moment later, Tori emerged from the open door, looking exasperated. “You guys just go, we'll meet you down there in a few.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade quirked a studded brow. “You two have fun together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat giggled. Tori stuck her tongue out at both of them before disappearing back inside the bathroom, where Beck could hear Robbie’s gripes and groans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck clapped his hands together, straightening up. “Alright then,” he said. “Let’s get going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other three mumbled their agreements and followed him out the door, André snatching up a volleyball on his way out and bouncing it between his hands. The pool wasn’t overly crowded when they got there; with a few kids in the shallow pool and adults reclined on olive green cushioned lounge chairs, bathing under the hot morning sun. Faint instrumental music was playing through the stereo at the tiki bar, where a woman was making smoothies for a group of four younger children and their vexed looking mother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although there was no net in the larger pool, Beck figured that they could make it work, so long the other guests didn’t get annoyed with them for taking up so much space. Beck peeled off his denim button up and dropped it on top of a chair, where Jade was placing their towels, before unceremoniously hopping into the pool, André in tow. The water was cool but bearable beneath the heat of the sun, and went up just a little above his torso. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” André said, balancing the volleyball in his hand. “Teams?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat gracefully jumped in, hardly making a splash. “Oh! I call being on Jadey’s team!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Girls versus boys,” Beck announced, smirking over at his girlfriend as she scowled down at the water, her arms crossing over her chest as she waded to Cat’s side. “We’ll could divide the pool into two sides using the 4ft marker,” he pointed to the side of the pool, where the depth was painted onto the brick surrounding it in blaringly white print. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah, we know the rules,” Jade commented, resting her elbow on Cat’s shoulder. “Let’s make this interesting. The losers, which will be you two, will have to rub lotion all over Robbie’s disgusting mosquito bites for the rest of the trip.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André laughed despite the awful bet, clapping Beck on the back. “Oh, I’m not worried, ladies,” he said confidently while puffing out his chest. “We won’t be the losers here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girls both proved to be surprisingly competent in the sport, fueled by an unexpected competitiveness that had both Beck and André floundering to keep up. After they had one the third game in a row, Beck proposed another in frustration, noticing the way his teammate’s shoulders were slumping in defeat. “Nope, you two lost enough times. Another would just be embarrassing for you,” Jade said loudly, her smirk as smug as could be as she high-fived a giddy looking Cat. “Never pegged you boys for sore losers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Man that’s not fair,” André objected, “I don’t want to rub lotion on Rob’s gross bug bites.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade’s smirk grew, as if it were possible. “But André, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>lost</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” She said sweetly, crossing her arms over her chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat laughed and pulled herself out of the pool, wringing out red velvet hair as she retrieved her shorts and slipped them back on. “It’s only fair,” she said, batting her eyelashes innocently. Beck tossed the volleyball over to her, and it bounced across the stone tiles until it was stopped by one of her feet, and she bent to pick it up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André, his face scrunched despondently, followed after her. “This sore loser’s going to get himself a smoothie,” he announced, shooting Jade one last look before making his way to the bar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess you girls won fair and square,” Beck said as his girlfriend sidled up to his side, looking smug. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, tasting of chlorine water and something a little sweeter, although it didn’t relieve the feeling of dread that he felt at his fate. No one should have to rub lotion on someone else's mosquito bites - that was just disgusting. “Since when did you get so good at volleyball?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The music spluttered and came to an abrupt stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Since there was a lot on the line,” Jade said, green eyes alight with mischievousness. Beck smiled down at her, shaking his head -</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Birds suddenly propelled from the trees, flying away in large, loud groups. The pair of them both glanced up, and Beck’s brows slightly creased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then the ground started to shake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a slight tremble, unlike the earthquakes they’d often experienced back in California, but enough to startle them. Around them, the occupants of the resort pool all stopped what they were doing, staring off in the direction of the beach, hidden behind buildings, where people were distantly screaming. Beck faltered, suddenly unsure of what to do with himself, a pit growing in his stomach. Up ahead, several palm trees were falling down - and it didn’t make sense, not to him, because if this was an earthquake, which it certainly didn’t feel like, it couldn’t have been powerful to knock them over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell is going on?” Jade murmured beside him, but Beck couldn’t find his voice to answer her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, he peered over his shoulder to glance up at his friend's hotel room. Sure enough, Robbie and Tori were standing by the railing of the balcony. Neither looked like they could see what was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were both squinting and staring off into the distance, their expressions mixed with confusion and apprehension. Beck turned away from them, and there was one short lasting moment of uncertainty before a large wave hit the surrounding buildings in front of them with a loud roar of ocean water. Beck’s eyes widened as glass windows and doors shattered, and everyone around them started moving all at once - running frantically in all directions, trying to get away as quickly as they could, while others were frozen in fear and disbelief. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tidal wave streamed powerfully through the buildings of the resort, leaving nothing but destruction in it’s wake, catching up to a few running tourists and sweeping them off their feet. Beck saw, in a quick glance, a little girl standing in trepidation, get smacked down and pulled underwater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade’s wet fingers were suddenly pressing against his arm, digging tightly into his skin. “Oh my god,” she said, taking an instinctive, but impractical step back. There was a tremble to her voice. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thought he heard Tori calling out for them on the balcony of her hotel room, but everything was chaos and happening too quickly for him to comprehend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahead of them, the volleyball slipped from Cat’s hands in shock, and she turned as Jade yelled out for her, diving into the farther side of the pool just seconds before the water reached her. Beck watched, his gut flooring in horror, as the wave and the remains of houses and trees surged over her, and she disappeared without a trace. André had tried to make a run for it to get inside and on higher ground, but it was fruitless, and his cry was cut short when the water swept him off of his feet, and then André was gone too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck acted without thinking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed Jade around her waist and bodily pulled her in front of him, turning and shielding her from the curl of the wave as it barrelled over them. It slammed into his back, hard and heavy, and his breath was rushed from his lungs at the sheer impact of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>People often underestimated the power of water, and just how strong it could be. It was a relentless force, one you didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire of.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ocean water and debris billowed around him, clogging his ears and his nose and into his aching lungs. It was completely debilitating, and it pushed and pulled him in so many directions that he didn’t realize Jade was gone until his head broke the surface. He fought to keep himself above water, drawing air desperately into his lungs; seafoam sprayed into his mouth, wood splinters stuck on his tongue and his lips, and Beck was forced to spit them out. Everything was a rush of </span>
  <em>
    <span>sound </span>
  </em>
  <span>and chaos around him, the current vigorous as it surged, pulling Beck along with it. In the trees and wreckage, people were screaming and crying out for help, voices woven with trepidation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he felt it too. This lurch of panic, clawing it’s way into his chest and hooking it’s talons in deep. Beck withstood the current and grabbed the closest, sturdy thing that he could get his hands on; he wasn’t sure what it was. It was metal and he thought it may have been a telephone pole, but he couldn’t be sure. His arms wrapped tight around it, holding on, and his vision danced, surveying his surroundings frantically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had no idea where he was. And he was very, very alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“JADE!” He called out, his voice hoarse and raw in his throat. He tasted blood on his tongue, but for the first time since he could remember, he was delirious with panic, and he couldn’t bring himself to care.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck’s eyes darted around him, looking for any sign of his friends, any sign of his girlfriend. Every part of him screamed in protest when he moved, and his arms strained around the metal pole, desperate to keep it in his grasp. Other people that had been caught in the wave, if they had been lucky enough to hold onto something, were climbing up palm trees, screaming and wailing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swore, spitting out water as it splashed into his mouth, his dark hair clinging to his forehead and the nape of his neck. He called out for her again, her name tearing from his throat - and he called out for André too, and for Cat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t see any sign of them. He couldn’t even see the resort, where Tori and Robbie were - and he couldn’t tell if it was gone too, or if he’d just been carried so far out that it was nowhere in sight. He doesn’t know what to think. It’s almost like he can’t grab his thoughts; they were racing through his mind too quick for him to focus on one thing at a time, or to make any sense at all. All he knew is that, that incapacitating fear that Sikowitz had once tried and failed to make him feel, churned furiously in his stomach, adrenaline and disbelief coursing through his veins like white hot fire and making his straining arms shake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ocean water was murky brown around him, littered with the wood of destroyed buildings and fallen palm trees and the occasional floating car. It rushed around him, carrying bodies and debris and glass that hit and cut into his skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the blink of an eye, everything was just…</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jade!” He yelled out, again, desperate for some kind of answer that never came. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, there was another rush of sound, and the current stopped pulling so forcefully. Beck moved gingerly around to look, kicking absently at something that had wrapped around his ankle - not far off in the distance, a second wave was hurdling toward him, carrying the destruction along with it. Although fear had made him slightly delirious, Beck knew that he had to act, and act quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He used the fact that he was already in water to his advantage, tightening his hold around the pole and forcing himself under water just seconds before the second wave pummeled over him, hoping that his grip was strong enough to keep him in place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Every part of André ached.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lay on his back, his hands resting over his bare chest. A middle-aged woman was hovering over him, long blond hair hanging down in springy curls, a crease between her brows expressing her concern. “Are you sure you’re alright?” She asked worriedly, her Australian accent prominent. Her and her husband, along with their twelve year old boy, had spotted André in the chaos as he clung to a tree and helped pull him to safety before the second wave came. The three of them had ultimately saved his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were on the second floor of the Khao Lak Resort on the outdoor walkway that led to his room just a little ways down. Tori and Robbie were also there; he could hear their voices as they spoke frantically on their cellphones, but he didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. Probably reassuring their families that they were safe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m okay,” he said, though his voice sounded raspy in his throat and unconvincing. He pushed himself up, hissing through his teeth, and he felt her hands moving to his shoulder to help steady him. As far as he was concerned, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>okay. Nothing felt broken, at least. André’s body felt like it’d been through the mill and back, with a couple bumps and bruises and cuts, but other than that, he just needed a minute to catch his bearings again. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just take it easy, mate,” the woman’s husband said, frowning. He was tan skinned, maybe of Indian descent, but André didn’t want to assume. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André nodded, but didn’t verbally answer. Instead, he stared out ahead of him, through the bars of the walkways railing. The area was completely unrecognizable, with broken down buildings and trees, the wreckage piled around and scattered. The ocean water lingered still, muddy and obscure, though it was no longer as strong or as violent as before - André could tell it would pull back into the ocean soon, leaving the mass destruction in it’s wake. It was hard to believe this had been the paradise he was just in minutes ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Three of his friends were still out there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>God only knew if they were okay, or even alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The thought hit him like a ton of bricks, and his chest felt suddenly very heavy. With some reassurance to the two skeptical adults beside him that he was alright enough to stand, they reluctantly turned their attentions elsewhere and André eventually rose to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily. He held onto the railing, his knuckles tight around the wood, his eyes scanning over the devastation incredulity. He could only imagine how the locals felt. Up above, a helicopter was flying overhead. Probably the news, or search and rescue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone’s hand pressed gently over his arm, and he turned his head to see Tori’s tearstained face. She hasn’t stopped crying since he first saw her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-” Tori began, looking as if she struggled for her words. André couldn’t blame her. “We saw it all happen. God, we saw all of you get hit,” she said, referring to Robbie and herself. Her words shook on her tongue, eyes glistening. She spoke hesitantly next, fingers tightening over his skin. “Do you think...do you think they made it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André debated whether or not he should lie before deciding against it. “I don’t know, Tor,” he said earnestly, shaking his head. Her lower lip trembled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robbie came up beside her, looking no better. “Should we call their parents?” He asked quietly, and then, before anyone could answer, he continued. “What the hell do we do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s nothing we can do right now,” André said. It was clear Tori was too distressed to be the voice of reason or leadership, and although André felt it too, he knew he had to step up and say something. He gestured around them, to the water. In the distance, they could hear someone wailing for their mother. It sounded like a young child. “We have to wait until it’s calmer, until it’s safe. And then we look for them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so they waited. Sitting close together with their backs pressed up against the wall, saying nothing. Occasionally, someone would rush past them, and not far away from them a group of survivors were hovering over a severely injured woman, who was biting down on a towel and screaming in pain. André did his best to block it out, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists, and tried not to think about his friends out there, maybe in the same kind of situation, or worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He considered himself extremely lucky. André was in pain - his bones ached with every movement and his dirty skin was bruising quickly, as if he’d been hit by a car. But he was alive, and he was well off, considering everything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been any worse off if that second wave would have hit him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe he’d even be dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he wasn’t. He was here, with two of his other friends who were luckily high up enough to not have been hit. Tori had explained with a trembling voice that the entire building shook when the water hit, that some of it had lurched over the side of the railings on the balconies, but they had ultimately been out of harm's way. Robbie was staying eerily silent. And in turn, André explained daringly that when the wave hit him, he’d never experienced anything more terrifying in his entire eighteen years of living. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see. All control had been taken from him. It was completely disorientating. André truly believed then that he was going to die; that he’d drown before his life had even really started. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, the water settled. More and more groups of people started setting out to help others still trapped in the wreckage and look for their loved ones. André could not believe the devastation that he was seeing; it seemed surreal, the stuff made of more realistic feeling nightmares. And by Tori’s vice grip on his hand, he figured she was thinking something very similar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to ask,” Robbie began hesitantly as they made way to the stairwell, and when André glanced over his gaze was pointed intently on his feet. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “What if we find - what if we find one of them, you know...dead?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beside him, Tori flinched, but said in a remarkably steady voice: “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s hope not, though,” André added. “We can’t afford to think so negatively.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robbie kept his eyes on his sandaled feet. “I’m just trying to be realistic. And...prepared.” He swallowed thickly, and glanced up, his glasses askew on his ashen face. “Come on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They followed him down the stairs and past a rush of survivors. Some were hanging around on the wooden floors, passing around food and sitting at the doors of their hotel rooms. More often than not, most of them he saw were injured, or sullen and beaten up like he was - some young children (they past a child that couldn’t have been older than five years old, his leg purple and swollen and blood on his face) and some very old. He noticed that Tori was doing everything she could to not look at them. Whether out of guilt or what, he didn’t know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deciding to split up to cover more ground, although staying in each other's sights, André ventured on his own around the pool area. And when the afternoon was beginning to fall into evening, the sky a yellow-ish orange, he managed to spot, through the wreckage, something very round and familiar beneath beams of wood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their volleyball.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André grabbed the pieces of wood and chucked them to the side hastily, his feet buried in brownish sludge from the aftermath of the tidal wave. He knocked everything out of his way, his hands tentatively reaching for the volleyball and straightening himself up, glancing down at it with creased brows. The last time he had seen her, Cat had been holding it. André’s eyes danced around the surrounding area, looking for any sign of familiar synthetically red hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat!” He bellowed out, loud enough to hear his voice echo. Relative silence answered him; but he could hear the others calling out for their lost friends somewhere in the distance as well. “CAT!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swore under his breath. “Jade!” He tried, spinning around. “Beck! Cat!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a rustle behind him: the sound of legs pulling through the muck around them and beams of wood being knocked out of the way, and a very guttural sounding cough. André turned sharply, the volleyball still pressed between his palms, and squinted through the growing shadows of the night to see who it was, and the person groaned and hissed through their teeth. With her ink black hair and pale skin sullied with dirt and littered with cuts, Jade stepped into his view and glanced over at him, one of her eyes swollen black and blue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Jade?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He called out in disbelief, taking a few hesitant steps forward - what he was reluctant for, he couldn’t tell. Just a nagging feeling hooked into his chest that told him to be cautious. “Holy chizz.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her split lips pulled up into her signature smirk. He noticed she was cradling her left arm to her chest. “You called?” She asked weakly, voice hoarse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then her knees gave out from underneath her, and André rushed forward in one swooping moment to catch her in his arms only seconds before she collapsed. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jade woke up in the back of a pickup truck, cradled in someone’s lap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She groaned when the truck hit a slight bump in the road, jostling the occupants inside. The movement sent a jolt of pain through her left arm tucked to her chest, and she remembered suddenly that it had broken sometime after the wave had hit them. Her eyes fluttered open, a dull throb beating against her temples - the sky was dark and clear above her, sprinkled with stars, the moon full and radiant, illuminating them with it’s light. André was looking down at her, too, face crestfallen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You with us, West?” He asked, and Jade felt his arm tighten around her slightly. His dreads were pulled back into a ponytail- there was a small scrape on his forehead, but otherwise he looked alright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded and swallowed thickly, green eyes observing around her. Tori was leaning against the side of the truck, her knees tucked to her chest and arms wrapped around them, peering over at her with an unreadable expression. Robbie was standing, holding onto the top of the truck carefully as it carried along down a winding road. She could hear a murmur of voices as they passed a huddled group of people on the side of the dirt road; could hear someone wailing in pain, and another person screaming for help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beck.” His name was the first thing that she said when she found her voice again, her mind fogged with confusion and her throat dry and hoarse. “Where is he? And Cat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André leaned his head back and looked away from her. His expression didn’t change, but his voice lowered. “I don’t know,” he said solemnly. “We can’t find either of them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We looked everywhere we could, for hours, but neither of them showed up,” said Tori. Her words were thick, like she’d been crying. “Then Dre found you - or you found him, really. You collapsed, and we had to get you to the hospital. We’re with another group of survivors from the resort and some nice locals that are going, they offered to take us with them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to try to calm the storm of sudden panic raging in her chest. Her lungs ached slightly; after getting to higher ground, she had struggled to breath, and she had coughed up a lot of seawater as result. “No. We need to go back,” she said through her teeth, and one of her hands curled around her left elbow, clutching it to her. “We need to keep looking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need medical attention,” Robbie said desolately, brown curls wisping around his face from the breeze. “Your arm is eighty shades of purple and you might have a concussion as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe they’re at the hospital,” André suggested. “We won’t give up until we find them, I promise.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not wanting to think about the alternatives, Jade chewed at the inside of her cheek, chest rising and falling with shuddering breaths. Beck had used his own body to shield her from the wave, and Jade remembered being torn from him seconds later - that when she had surfaced, he was nowhere to be seen. To think that he was anywhere but safe, to think that he could have died when the water hit, made her stomach turn over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shifted in André’s grasp, using her uninjured arm to help push herself up. André steadied her, and she leaned her shoulder against his, her back pressed against the window of the pickup. “Cat only weighs like 90 pounds,” she murmured, her voice trembling - hardly, but trembling nonetheless. It wasn’t like </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jade West </span>
  </em>
  <span>to show her fear like this, to be anything but level headed in a situation, but her emotions were running rampant, thoughts racing, and she couldn’t bring herself to even care. She just didn’t have the energy to put up a front. “That wave could have crushed her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori’s face creased slightly, and she looked away from Jade, eyes downcast. Tori, Jade knew, loved Cat. “I saw her jump into the pool before it hit her,” she said. “That was smart of her. It might have saved her life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well, Cat’s smarter than people give her credit for,” Jade said sharply, tucking her knees up but being mindful of her arm. At that point, she could hardly feel her hand or her fingers, let alone move them. She knew she should have been worried about that, but it was the farthest thing from her mind. Only Beck, and Cat, who were still out there somewhere, lost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Tori said softly, frowning. “I know she is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André rested his forearms over his knees and leaned his head back. “Robbie’s phone should still have some battery life left,” he said. “Why don’t you call your folks and let them know that you’re alright? I’m sure they’re worried.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Save the battery,” Jade insisted, unable to keep the bitter tone from her voice. Her mother had moved back to New Jersey before graduation and likely didn’t even know she was in Thailand to begin with: Jade hadn’t bothered to tell her, and her father, who Jade wasn’t in the mood to deal with, sure as hell didn’t tell her either. “I’ll call them later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking her answer as final, the four of them settled into silence for the rest of the ride to the hospital. Beside her, André drummed his fingers lightly against his bruised knees and stared off in front of him, watching the dirt road. Robbie carefully maneuvered to sit at Tori’s left. She looked as if she was lost in her own little world. Apparently, she was not processing anything that had happened very well. Jade couldn’t exactly blame her, but didn’t bother to mention it. Her throat hurt, her head was pounding, and her lungs burned in her chest. She was done with talking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She closed her eyes, one throbbing and swollen still, and inhaled sharply when the truck hit another bump in the road. Everything hurt. But, still, nothing hurt more than not knowing if Beck was okay, or if he was even still alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She should have gone to </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking </span>
  </em>
  <span>Cancun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the tsunami hit, the devastation was so great that it seemed to Tori like most of Khao Lak had gone silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was like nothing she’d ever seen before, the pure rawness of it all; the bustle of tourism and native life wiped out in mere minutes, leaving nothing but absolute destruction in its wake. She saw maybe one helicopter fly overhead, and nothing else but a few buses full of children and elders leaving for the mountains or provincial hospitals. The groups of people who remained at the resort she and her friends had been staying at were very few.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they arrived at the hospital, she suddenly understood why that was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone in the surrounding area who had survived, had gone there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>How their driver maneuvered around the massive crowds of people, Tori couldn’t say. The hospital staff had set up several triage centers beneath large tents outside the main building, prepped for the aftermath of a natural disaster but grossly unprepared for the sheer quantity of patients that they would receive. There were people everywhere she looked: some crowded around a bulletin board covered with what looked like lists, others searched for loved ones among the patients, children being watched and cared for underneath a large tent closest to the entrance of the hospital. Most of the chaos seemed to migrate toward the doors, where people were ushering those with injuries inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pickup pulled up as close to the entrance that the driver could get it and one of the locals that had offered to take them to the hospital stepped out to open up the back for them. Tori hopped down first, followed by Robbie, and André lingered behind to help Jade down - who, despite sharply insisting she was fine, still looked pale and wobbly at her knees, clutching her broken arm to her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All four of them followed the man as he lead them inside and through the crowds of passing people. At the doors, hospital orderlies and nurses were arguing with several survivors. Tori couldn’t understand what was being said, but she had a vague idea by the frantic gestures of their arms, and how they held back those who were trying to push their way through. They must not have room for more patients, or could not accept more simply because they did not have the materials or medicine to correctly treat them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She worried the bottom of her lip. What if they were turned away? Jade’s arm needed to be treated, and her head needed to be looked at in case she suffered a concussion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André’s hands found her arms and held on, tight but not constricting. Tori figured he was keeping close behind her so they didn’t get separated. Up ahead of them, the local had taken it upon himself to hold back one of the orderlies that began yelling at them, and Robbie was holding onto Jade’s good wrist, pulling her through the doors as quickly as he could. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took them several minutes to find a place to wait, and eventually they settled on a small room that could have resembled a closet had it not been for the examination table, sink and medicine cabinets. Jade sat down on the table, green in the face, and Tori turned to face the local as he muttered to them in Thai and made to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” she said, gingerly reaching for his arm to gain his attention. She wasn’t sure if he could understand her given the language barrier, but she tried for it anyway, pressing a hand over her heart. “Thank you, thank you </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The older man nodded, and with one last look at the others behind her, he was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door shut behind him. The murmur of the hundreds of voices outside, all the screaming and wailing and the local news playing on the TV’s in the waiting area, all became muffled behind it, leaving the four of them in relative silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jade,” Tori began softly, turning to the other girl as she sat upright on the examination table, her shoulders slightly hunched and expression blank. So different than the confident, assertive Jade that she was used to. She thought about reaching to put a hand on her knee, a small gesture of comfort, but ultimately decided against it. Despite becoming somewhat-closer-friends during their senior year, Jade’s temperament had largely remained the same, and Tori did not want to risk prodding at her nerves, especially while she was injured. “You should lay down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me what to do, Vega,” Jade snapped, although it lacked her typical conviction. Still, Tori didn’t push her, resigning to one of the metal stools near the sink and watching as Jade, with noticeable effort, shifted to lean her back against the white wall behind her, too stubborn for her own good. After a beat of silence, she said: “What are we going to do about Beck? And Cat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If there’s a chance that either of them are here, we have to start looking now,” André said. He was pacing the left side of the room, unable to keep himself still since they’ve arrived.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But there must be hundreds of people here,” Tori said, shoulders slumped. “Where do we even start?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On our way in I saw a lot of bulletin boards around,” Robbie suggested. Tori recalled seeing them as well. “It looked like they had lists of patient names on them. If one of them is here...then maybe we could find them that way. It might not be the best option that we have, but right now, I think it’s our only option.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André had stopped pacing long enough to rub his hand over his chin, nodding over at the three of them. “Hey, it’s something. I’ll take something over nothing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori agreed. “We should start looking then.” She paused. “Who’s going to stay here with Jade? It could be a while before a doctor can get to her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade immediately bristled in defense. “I don’t need a freakin’ babysitter, Vega,” she said through clenched teeth. Tori couldn’t necessarily blame her, but she was in no position - or condition, for that matter - to argue with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not leaving you here by yourself,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, no way, West,” André said. Tori was eternally grateful for him always backing her up. “Someone’s gotta stay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll stay here with her.” It was Robbie who spoke up next, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Jade looked even more dismayed than before, but Robbie paid her no mind. He glanced over Tori and André with a faint, but tired smile. “I think I’ll stay out of the crowds. You two go ahead and find our friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite Jade’s obvious distaste, she said nothing. Tori released a heavy breath, though the tension did not leave her shoulders. “Okay, it’s settled then,” she finalized. “We should go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André nodded, and the two of them started for the door, pausing only when Jade spoke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tori.” It was rare that Jade addressed her by her first name. She sounded haggard, like her body was finally succumbing to all the stress it had been through. Tori looked over her shoulder to meet her eyes, and was momentarily floored to see Jade’s were glassed over with unshed tears, one still mildly swollen and a horrible shade of black and purple. “Find them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded solemnly. “I’ll try,” she said. “I’ll try.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>About an hour later, and Tori was ready to resign, the hope that Beck and Cat were there withering away in her chest each time she and André had scanned a list and come up with nothing. The crowds of people were so relentless, searching for lost loved ones, that it took nearly ten minutes just to squeeze their way up to the bulletin board, where a great number of papers overlapped each other, all containing names of victims. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On their way to the fifth and last board they had seen, Tori and André scoped every nook and cranny of the hospital that was accessible to them; scanning hospital beds and calling out their friends names in hopes that someone would respond to them. But it was becoming increasingly clear that their efforts were in vain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>André stayed behind as Tori made her way up to the last bulletin, pushing passed the throng of people. Her eyes went over each list of names twice, three times, lest she miss one of them by accident. Her heart lodged in her throat when she saw the name Caterina, but the flash of hope dissipated just as quickly when she noticed the surname was not the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori sighed and looked back at André, waiting anxiously behind the crowd. She frowned over at him and shook her head, her shoulders deflated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck and Cat weren’t there.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>would love to hear your thoughts about this!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>earlier</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>When Beck was 13 years old, he watched his grandfather die.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t particularly tragic - Beck hardly knew the man, only that he often drank himself into a stupor, and that his parents wanted to keep him and his older sister away from that kind of negative influence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, he was his grandfather, and watching anybody die wasn’t easy, especially when they were blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dementia had taken hold of him early on in his life, and its hold had gradually tightened over the years. Beck’s family had known that it was coming for a long time before his mother got the call to return to Canada to say their goodbyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was agonizingly slow, drawn out over the course of months. It was awful to witness, planting a deep seeded fear of growing old somewhere in his brain. Beck did not want to die like that: helpless, without a clue of what anything was or who anybody was, not even himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Beck thought as he rose, a touch unsteadily, from a crouch, a semi-bloated dead body of a man in the brush and ruins a his feet - this was something else entirely. It wasn’t the first dead body he’d seen since the water receded (human or animal, for that matter) and likely wouldn’t be the last, and Beck felt sick everytime. These deaths were quick: entire lives snuffed out in mere minutes, without warning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, Beck thought that, in it’s own way, dying so suddenly might have been worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are - are they…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Beck said, drawing in a breath that felt too short. He could feel a rattle in his chest, and the air that left him, left him as a wheeze. He peered over his shoulder, only to see Cat staring back at him with wide, uncertain eyes. “C’mon, we have to keep going, find somewhere higher up. Just don’t - don’t look at it, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even from the slight distance, he could see Cat swallow. “...Okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d found each other sometime after the second surge hit. Beck couldn’t say with certainty how long he was pulled along the current for, trying desperately to hold onto anything to keep himself afloat, until he saw her. Clinging for dear life to the trunk of an upright palm tree, there was Cat, blood as red as her hair seeping from a cut above her right eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d fought against the current in order to get to her, but it was mostly in vain. Cat - perhaps unwisely, but strictly out of desperation to not be left alone - pushed herself from the tree and met him a little less than halfway. They drifted along together, clutching one another, until they found an uprooted tree floating along the choppy waters. They held onto that for what felt like an hour before the high water finally receded back into the ocean.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no sign of any of the others. Not Robbie or Tori, who he figured were safe. Not André. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not even Jade, who had been in his arms when the tsunami hit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there was Cat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was mostly okay, if not a little banged up, but still Beck kept a watchful eye on her. There were dark circular bruises all along the ridges of her neck and down her spine, and sometime during the second wave, something had hit the side of her face. It cut a decent sized gash into her forehead, just above her eyebrow and near her hairline, and a vessel had burst around the iris of her eye, a ring of blood red and hints of yellow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was limping, too, unable to keep pressure on her left ankle for very long, if at all. He was supporting her as best as he could through the wreckage, and although it should have been a crime for her to weigh as little as she did, Beck could feel still the strain on his body getting to him with every step.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was tired, and he was sure his ribs were broken, and a gash on his bicep had yet to stop bleeding. Every fiber of his being was telling him to stop, to slow down, to just rest. But Beck pushed those thoughts away and forced himself to keep going. He needed to get them somewhere safe, preferably somewhere higher up, in case the aftershocks produced another wave and they got caught in the crossfire of it again. He didn’t think that he would make it out alive if that were to happen. His body was too beaten down and weak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, he needed to find Jade. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade was all that mattered, all that he cared about, and he couldn’t find her if he was dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beck, look,” said Cat, pulling him from a daze as they lumbered along. She was pointing toward something to the far left of them, a dash of hope washing across her once solemn face. “Will that work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He followed her gaze to find a large tree centered among the destruction, with heavy branches that he knew, even just from one glance, were suitable for climbing. It was high up enough that if another wave had come, both Beck and Cat would be relatively safe at that height, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>relatively safe</span>
  </em>
  <span> was really all that he could ask for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s perfect, C,” Beck said. His arm tenderly held up his middle, his ribs aching with every shuddering breath. There was a sharp throbbing in his chest, a heaviness that constricted the amount of air he could inhale, and he was beginning to feel dizzy. Still, he ran a hand through his damp hair, pushing it back from his eyes, and helped Cat walk along. Every sound or shudder of the earth made him nervous. “Good eye.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat limped along beside him and, save for a small smile, said nothing. She’d been relatively quiet since he’d found her - crying mostly, and saying very little other than her concerns about their friends. Beck knew that she was scared and worried about them, he was too, but couldn’t help but find the uncharacteristic silence somewhat worrisome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He loved Cat, like she was his little sister. He just hoped that all of this wasn’t going to break her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they were somewhat closer to the tree, a good fifteen feet away, he broke that silence. “It’s gonna be kinda difficult climbing up there with your ankle all banged up,” he said, clearing his throat. His chest was feeling tighter by the minute. “You’re pretty light, so I’m gonna lift you up on my shoulders and-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He broke off as his lungs seized with a guttural sounding cough. Before Beck could even try to draw in a breath of air, saltwater pushed its way up his throat, and he keeled over, one arm curling around his abdomen, to cough it up into his hand. When he opened his eyes, a burning pain radiating through his chest, blood had splattered over his palm, dark and blackish, his fingers slick with it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck straightened, and cursed under his breath when Cat gasped at the blood over his hand. She’d moved in front of him, a tiny hand holding onto one of his arms. “Are you okay?” She asked, brown eyes wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m good,” Beck was quick to reassure her, noticing the rising panic building in her eyes. His voice came out hoarse, as if rubbed against sandpaper. He wiped his palm against his board shorts, a bit shakily; he suddenly felt very lightheaded “I just swallowed a lot of water, and other stuff. I’m alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause. Cat, frowning, still hadn’t let go of his arm. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re all sweaty and pale. Maybe we should take a break, or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Beck insisted, though he knew it was in vain. He could tell without looking at her that Cat was unconvinced by his lie - he was a fantastic actor, true, but she had always had the weird ability to figure things out before anybody else, somehow managing to be one of the most perceptive among them all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No you’re not!” She huffed, clearly becoming more upset. “Stop being so stubborn!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat, we don’t have time for a break right now,” Beck said, a little breathlessly. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. “We need to get up that tree until a rescue team finds us, okay? We’re not safe on the ground if another wave comes. We can’t look for the other’s if we...” He shook his head and opened his eyes - and the world was spinning around him. “...If we’re…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beck?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His balance faltered. Beck stumbled back a step, only vaguely aware of Cat calling out to him. “I need...to look for Jade,” he managed to get out, his head reeling. “I need - Jade.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then it all went black.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moment Beck fell, his body landing with a thud half in the sludge and half on a pile of palm leaves and debris, Cat rushed to his side as fast as her ankle would allow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>he wasn’t okay!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No no no,” She pleaded, patting at his cheeks in a failed attempt to wake him. “Oh no, oh God. Come on, Beck! Please wake up! You can’t just leave me alone!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet Beck was unmoving, like in a peaceful sleep; his chest rising and falling with each short, wheezing breath he took. At least, she thought, he was still breathing. Cat worried her bottom lip between her teeth and tasted salt and blood. He needed to get to a hospital, but there was no possible way she could get him there all on her own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she could get him to that tree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rose, a tad unsteadily, from her knees and glanced over her shoulder. It wasn’t so far away, she supposed, though she couldn’t imagine it would be easy to get him anywhere. “Okay, Cat, you can do this,” she told herself, maneuvering herself carefully around her friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat hooked both arms beneath his, bodily hauling his upper-half from the muck. It dripped from his hair and his skin was slippery with it. She was small and not very strong, she knew that much, and Beck was heavier than he looked. The added weight on her bad ankle sent a jolt of white hot pain up her entire leg that left tears in her eyes. Still, Cat grit her teeth in determination and, using all the strength she could muster within her, began to drag her friend toward the tree in question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had helped her earlier. The least that she could do was attempt to return the favor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t want to think about how she would get him up that tree when she knew she couldn’t even get herself up there, not with her ankle swollen and discolored the way it was. She would deal with that when the time came. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t get him very far, maybe a five or six feet back, before her ankle finally gave out beneath her - aggravated from the pressure. Cat cried out and stumbled backward, into the shallow mire of debris and sand and ocean water. Beck’s head lolled over the crook of her elbow but still he did not regain consciousness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat took a moment to breathe through the pain and calm the storm of her thoughts. There were too many of them, coming to her all at once - but she knew one thing for certain: she wasn’t safe here. Beck wasn’t safe here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She took another deep, steadying breath through her nose, and held Beck in her arms as if he’d fade away if she let him go. Her eyes stung from fresh tears and the dirty salt water and her own blood, and she squinted up against the harsh sunlight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sky was cloudless, and the air was still. The breeze had gone as the ocean water receded, and there was no relief from the harsh warmth of the sun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat loved the sun. She did most things: the world was as beautiful and as easy to love as it was frightening and sometimes infuriating. It made her feel calm and reminded her of having fun with her friends at the beaches of Los Angeles, of blooming flowers and bumblebees and honey, of André’s smile and Sam’s hair. But looking up at the sun now, she felt nothing of the sort. It seemed wrong for the sky to look so beautiful, for the weather to be so perfect, when hundreds - thousands - of lives have just been destroyed in a matter of minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like the sky, everything around her seemed so still in comparison to the chaos when the waves had hit. Cat really didn’t know what she expected to happen afterwards - rescue teams, maybe news and paramedic helicopters. But now everything seemed to have fallen quiet, save for the groans of wrecked buildings and cars and the occasional caw of the seagulls that flew overhead. She thought it might be a good thing that they’d returned. They’d all left when the first wave had come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It gave her a small comfort, and a small inkling of hope that maybe they would be okay where they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat felt more exhausted now than terrified, the adrenaline slowly expelling from her system like the way water trickled. Her entire body ached as if she’d been hit by a bus or ran into by a very large footballer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sniffed and glanced down at her left leg, which was outstretched in the shallow sludge in front of her. Cat had broken enough bones in her lifetime to know that her ankle hadn’t fractured and was likely only sprained, but the purple discoloration and swelling set a nervous pit in her stomach. She could move it still, but it hurt to, and she couldn’t apply any pressure on it without being brought to tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hadn’t been that bad before. She thought she might have made it worse when she tried to drag Beck to the tree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t sure how long she sat there for, singing softly to herself and an unconscious Beck, before she heard them: small collective of voices coming from her right, too far to be heard as anything but incoherent babble. Cat’s heart leapt - they hadn’t seen anybody since the water had receded. Mindful of her friend, Cat twisted to the source of the voices: three dark-skinned men, wearing nothing but pants rolled up their knees, calling out to whoever would listen. Even as they grew closer, Cat couldn’t understand whatever it was that they were saying. It was evident that they were locals.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her breath rushed from her lungs in a half-sob, half-laugh of relief. “Hey!” She yelled, waving her arm in the air to catch their attention. Her own voice was slightly hoarse, impaired from all the saltwater she’d accidentally inhaled, and cracked as she yelled. She had to clear her throat before calling out to them again; loud enough that their heads turned all at once, loud enough that they yelled back at her, trudging through the sludge and wreckage to get to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck did not wake, even as the strangers took him from her arms and helped her to her feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please,” she cried, even though she knew it was likely they couldn’t understand her. She pointed to Beck with the hand that wasn’t clutching the strangers arm, to his broken down and beaten body. “You have to help my friend. Please, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he needs help!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man helping support her weight glanced from her, to Beck, and seemed to understand. He said something to his companions, and one of them moved to press his fingers against the side of Beck’s throat, feeling for a pulse. He spoke in rapid Thai to the other, and although Cat considered herself good at reading facial expressions, she could not gauge what they could have possibly been saying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Together, the two men picked Beck up by his legs and beneath his arms, beginning to trek back the way they had come. Cat gasped when she heard Beck groan and cough, jostled by the sudden movements - though one look at him told her that he wasn’t truly aware of what was happening or his surroundings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His groaning and delirious and incomprehensible muttering to himself continued for the duration of the walk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The men brought them to a small village not far off, just up a hill and out of reach from the waves destruction. The village, at first glance, consisted of huts made of bamboo, settled in a vast field of dirt road and luscious woodland; the locals - men and women of varying ages - were plentiful but scattered around, carrying containers or water and clothing and tending to tourists who must have fled there for safety. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost immediately, Cat was surrounded by a group of older women.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the ladies provided her with a loose fitting t-shirt to cover herself with, as she was still in just her bikini top and shorts, and another helped wipe the blood and grime from her face with wet cloth. They were speaking softly to her, although she couldn’t understand - but Cat wasn’t paying much attention to them. After pulling the shirt over her head, she had turned to watch as a group of boys helped lift a delirious Beck onto a wooden door, carrying him to the back of a rundown pick-up truck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The older woman helping clean her face took her by the shoulders then, and gently turned her chin with a bony finger. She had the kindest eyes Cat had ever seen. “Hospital,” she said simply, with a firm and determined nod and botched English. “Hospital.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Cat breathed, and allowed the woman to wipe away her falling tears and pull her into her arms. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The world was frightening, that much was proven. But, as Cat let herself and Beck be cared for by absolute strangers, she knew she had been right all along: it was beautiful, too, and so incredibly easy to love.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>let me know what you guys think so far!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Beck woke to bright light and a radiating ache in his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a beat, all he could see was </span>
  <em>
    <span>white</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He blinked harshly against the light, once, twice, to clear his vision. Once the initial shock of brightness dimmed, Beck found himself staring at a white tiled ceiling. He took a deep breath through his nose, allowing himself another moment to get his bearings together, to try and remember how he got here - wherever “here” was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It smelt like antiseptic and sea water and death, so Beck assumed that meant he was in a hospital. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tried to swallow, but it was fruitless; his mouth was static dry. He was able to roll his head to the right despite the soreness in his neck. Lying essentially arms length away was a young woman in a hospital cot, body wrapped with gauze. She was staring blankly at the ceiling with no indication of awareness at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In his peripheral he caught movement further down the side of his cot, and when he turned to look, there was Cat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was sitting in a black folding chair that had seen better days, desolately picking at the wrapper of a water bottle. She was wearing a loose fitted t-shirt he’d never seen before, her red hair dry and wavy. There were stitches closing the wound on the side of her forehead and a small hard plastic boot-cast secured around her left foot and ankle, which was outstretched before her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gonna share any of that?” He croaked out. His voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat twitched in surprise, her gaze shooting up. Beck refrained from frowning at the sight of her looking so beat up; from the stitches to the now fully-formed bruises and cuts and to the blown blood vessel in her eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! You’re awake!” Cat cried, scooting forward in her seat with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She took hold of one of his hands with her own, her fingers squeezing his. Her hands were ice cold. He might have just been hot, but he remembered her saying, ages ago, that her body temperature ran lower than most. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Cold hands, warm heart</span>
  </em>
  <span>, was one of her favorite things to say, which would always provoke an eye roll from Jade. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning!” Cat said, right before he could start to spiral. “How are you feeling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Cat’s expression faltered, just slightly. He can tell his question had caught her off guard. “It’s morning now. I think it’s like 8 AM.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck blinked, trying to sift through the fog in his mind to comprehend this new information. The last thing he remembered was trudging through the wreckage with her, the afternoon sun beating down on their shoulders. “I’ve been out for that long?” He pressed, his brows furrowing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you woke up a few times during the night, and you were in and out before we got here,” said Cat. She was looking at him as though he were a very complex math equation. “You- You don’t remember waking up at all?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He simply shook his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here.” Cat released his hand to pass him her water bottle, which he gratefully took. Someone to his left coughed violently - this hospital staff must have run out of rooms for everybody, placing patients on stiff cots out in the corridors and sitting rooms. Beck’s bed was in the middle of a large room, facing a window, which was lined with more vertically placed beds. “They gave you a lot of pain meds. The nurse said you might not remember.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck sipped the water gingerly. He knew if he’d chugged it he’d likely feel sick. It was lukewarm, but it felt good on his throat. “How’d we get here?” He asked, his voice less hoarse and strained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you passed out I tried to drag you over to that tree we found, but I couldn’t with my ankle all messed up,” Cat explained, briefly looking down at her boot-cast. “So I just sat there with you for a while. I think a couple hours? I don’t really know, but it was a long time. But then some nice locals found us, and they carried you back to this little village where they were helping people. The closest hospital was too full and wouldn’t take any more people, so they took us here instead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How far away is this place?” Beck asked. Something like panic bubbled in his chest; he felt light-headed, like he might pass out again. He didn’t want to be so far from the hotel. How could he possibly find Jade that way? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little less than an hour, maybe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck sat upright without even thinking, his mind reeling: </span>
  <em>
    <span>I have to go. I have to go. I have to go find Jade</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Instantly, he regretted it - his entire torso burned something fierce, like the muscle just underneath his skin had been set on fire, like someone had taken both of his lungs and torn them straight out of his chest cavity. Beck’s vision went spotty, a</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat was on her feet at his bedside in a second, balance wobbly on her bootcast, doe eyes wide on her face. “You shouldn’t sit up!” She exclaimed. Her hands hovered before his shoulders as though she was ready to push him back down, but hesitant and afraid to touch him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to go, Cat,” Beck said urgently. “I have to get to Jade-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can’t leave! You need medical attention!” She said. She placed her hands over his bare shoulder and gently guided him back down - Beck resisted, taking hold of her wrist and gripping tight, but Cat was insistent. “They said you need surgery, Beck. We can’t leave.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Beck insisted. “Jade is out there -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said you were fine right before you passed out and look where it got us,” Cat said; her words were a harsh truth he wasn’t expecting to hear come from her mouth, but they were said with a kind patience. “Please, just lay back down, Beck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With some reluctance, Beck let her go and stopped resisting. He let her guide him back down fully, his head falling back against the pillow. He was only given one; it was stiff and smelt kind of funny and hardly elevated his neck, but, it was something. Satisfied, Cat sat back down herself, though reached for his hand again. He held on; it all felt so surreal, but being able to see and touch Cat grounded him back in reality. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat in silence for several long minutes before Cat spoke again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think that…” Cat’s breath hitched, a fresh deluge of tears forming in her eyes. “André and Jade. Do you think that they’re okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck couldn’t help but visibly wince at that. There was a horrible weight on his chest that wasn’t entirely related to his injuries. It felt like he was suffocating without her - like she was the very air he breathed, and he was nothing without her. “I don’t know, Cat,” he murmured. He couldn’t lie to her, not about that. “But I do know that Jade’s a fighter, and André is resilient. If anybody could make it out of this mess, it’s those two.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hundred emotions washed over Cat’s face in the span of only a few seconds. She had always felt things with such an intensity; it was one thing about her that Beck could actually relate to. Where she had felt it in every range of emotion however, Beck only ever felt such an intensity with his anger. “I can’t lose them,” she whispered, shaking her head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Beck squeezed her hand, fighting back an onslaught of his own tears</span>
  <em>
    <span>.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “I know. I can’t lose them either. But we have each other, and that’s something. Hell, that’s everything, right now. We’ll find them together. One way or another, we will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat was a tiny girl in general, but Beck thought she never looked so small before. “Do you promise?” She asked, meek in spite of the strong grip on his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallowed thickly. Beck, for the first time in a long time, didn’t feel very brave or hopeful at that moment. In fact, he thought he might never see Jade again. But he knew he had to be, for Cat. She was relying on him to be strong. “I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really scared me, you know,” Cat murmured suddenly, her brown eyes wide, eyebrows pinched together. It was what he and the others ironically called her ‘puppy-dog’ face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” Beck said. He was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t listen to me,” she continued, a little more urgently. “I told you, you needed to take a break and rest. But you didn’t listen. Nobody ever listens to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His chest felt heavy again, only this time out of guilt. All he could do was repeat himself: “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat pulled her hand away and played with her fingers in her lap, and Beck suddenly felt more alone than he was. She sniffed and swiped her fingers beneath her cheek, wiping away stray tears. “Jade would yell at you for apologizing so much,” she said, laughing shortly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably,” Beck said. He couldn’t help the fond grin, although it was short-lasted. “I would gladly take her yelling at me if it meant that I could see her again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Cat said quietly. “Me too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me something, C.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything,” Beck said, dry coughing into his fist. Any distraction from a missing Jade and the radiating pain all throughout his body was a welcome one. “Tell me something about your brother. You used to always tell us crazy stories about him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat looked back down at her hands, fidgeting with the hospital band around her wrist. Someone had neatly handwritten ‘Caterina’ on it, with a translation in Thai script directly beneath it. “I haven’t heard from Antonio in awhile,” she said, much more serious than he was used to seeing her. She perked up sooner than he expected, a soft smile upturning her lips when she looked at him - it made it easier to ignore the bruises on her face, or the blood red of her eye. “I have lots of stories about Sam though! We always go on fun adventures.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck managed a small smile. “That works too.” Then, as an afterthought, tacked on: “Have you called her yet? Or your Nonna?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t find a phone,” Cat said, her smile disappearing as her brows furrowed. “Well I- I did, but the man who was using it said he was sorry but he needed to save his battery.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you asked anyone else?” Beck asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat shook her head. “I didn’t want to leave you for too long,” she said. “I didn’t - I didn’t want you to wake up alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck was touched by her consideration - to put off contacting her own family so he could feel less alone. “You should go, try to find one so you could call them. Maybe my family, too,” Beck encouraged, forcing a smile through his exhaustion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, Beck.” Cat bit her lip. “What if I get lost or something? What if I can’t find you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty sure I won’t be going anywhere for awhile. You’ll find me eventually,” he said, and hoped he sounded reassuring. “Go on, C. You don’t have to sit here and keep me company all day, you know. I’ll probably end up falling asleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a moment where Cat didn’t move, nor did she say anything. She stared at him, chewing at her lip, an anxious uncertainty written plainly over her face. Then, she suddenly took the pen from the medical chart attached to the end of his hospital bed, handed it to him, and presented him the inside of her wrist. Beck stared at her blankly. “Your parent’s phone numbers,” Cat clarified, looking sheepish. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Beck cleared his throat, clicked the pen, and carefully jotted down the numbers against her skin. The ink smudged a little, but it was still eligible. “There you go. Tell them that I’m alright...and that I’ll talk to them when I can. And that I love them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat nodded. “Okay, I will,” she said very seriously. “I’ll be right back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck kept his eyes on her as she left. She turned a few times over her shoulder, reluctant to leave him, but eventually turned a corner and disappeared from sight. He let out a haggard breath, closing his eyes. He was proud of her, he thought. She did not give up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Beck, not for the first time that morning, was reminded of himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hospital they were in was large. Smaller than USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, she knew, but large still. Large enough that every corridor Cat turned, she had to make mental note of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d be doing a lot of retracing her steps when she returned to Beck, that she was sure of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat wasn’t sure where exactly to start, or rather, who to ask for a cellphone. It’d been easier the night before when they’d first arrived; many people had been on their phones, or had them out, speaking to loved ones or making arrangements to travel back home. Now it seemed that the worst of the panic had calmed over - now the hospital seemed more despondent, not exactly calm with the sheer volume of patients, but not in a mad rush, either. Cat, as she limped along the patient-lined corridors, passing doctors and nurses and other bloodied and muck-covered wanderers, felt rather inconsiderate just wandering up to ask someone to borrow their phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ten or so minutes into her search, Cat stumbled upon an older man in the skywalk, leaning against the railing with his phone in hand. So she approached, hopeful and anxious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tried hard not to stutter over her words, like she used to as a child. Cat wasn’t exactly a shy person (and that’s when it happened most, in those shy moments) but being in a different country, after a dramatic disaster, unsure of every step she took, it was difficult not to, to say the least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was the first to decline (he needed his phone on him urgently - he was waiting for a call from his husband back in the States), and he certainly wasn’t the last.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After her third rejection, Cat was beginning to get frustrated. She understood the immediate need for a cellphone, to keep in contact with family and to make accommodations, but could no one spare their phone for five minutes? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, Cat wandered into a tented area outside where a crowd was gathered around a bulletin board that appeared to have a large list of names on it. Here, there were several people with their phones out - but one in particular caught Cat’s eye. Or her ears, rather.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A tall, middle-aged woman was standing off to the side, speaking on her phone. She was speaking rapidly to someone on the other line in what Cat easily recognized as Italian. To the untrained ear, it sounded as though she were arguing with someone - but from what Cat understood (Cat, who primarily spoke Italian at home up until her parents and brother left for Idaho), it sounded like she was updating somebody about her and her son’s whereabouts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat waited patiently until she was finished, lowering herself on one of the free benches to give her ankle a break. Cat was aware that there were other people she could have asked, but something in her gut told her to ask this woman first. No matter how long that took. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took several long minutes - seventeen, to be exact, but who’s counting? - until she finally lowered the phone from her ear. Cat stood. Now was her chance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mi scusi, signora?” Cat began as she approached, wringing her fingers a bit shyly. She had never spoken the language to anyone outside of her family before, and even then it had been quite some time since she talked to her parents. The woman glanced up, a modicum of surprise flashing over her face. She looked over Cat in a once-over, to the cuts and bruises all over and the bootcast on her foot, and the surprise morphed into sympathy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she said nothing, waiting expectantly, Cat continued. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I lost my phone and I haven’t been able to find one to call home,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she said, and was happy to realize the Italian flowed easier to her than she thought it would. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>May I please use yours? If you don’t mind?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman briefly glanced down at her phone, before extending it toward Cat. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t have much battery left,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she said, in rapid Italian. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>But, please, take it. I am sure your family is worried about you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grazie!” Cat gushed, taking the phone from her hand. She took a few steps away for some privacy, but made sure to stay within close distance. She didn’t want this woman to think she was about to take off with her phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After her mother’s phone had been caught in the crossfire of one of Antonio’s meltdowns, she’d gotten a new phone and new number with an Idaho area code. Cat had it saved in her phone when her mother first got it, but couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was. She had memorized her parents old phone numbers, and her brother’s current number (which was out of order, as of three months ago), but contact with her parents lately had been so scarce that Cat hadn’t needed to memorize their new numbers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So she tried her Nonna instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat wasn’t sure what time it was in Los Angeles, however, and was disappointed but not too surprised when she didn’t pick up. She played with the idea of leaving a voicemail, but given it was a stranger's phone, ultimately decided against it, quickly dialing Sam’s number. She had it memorized because she was her new emergency contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It rang...and rang, and rang, until it went to her automated voicemail. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she tried again, it went straight to voicemail. Cat made a frustrated noise and dialed again, pressing the phone to her ear, pleading silently for an answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To her surprise, and relief, Sam picked up on only the first ring. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She almost screamed. “Who is this and why do you keep calling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sam,” Cat breathed, the tension leaving her body with a surge of relief. To hear her voice was a small comfort from home, and she so desperately wished to be back at her apartment, where it was safe and she could curl up on her That’s A Drag couch or double over with laughter playing Rap Attack with her friends. She pressed a hand over her heart and closed her eyes. There was a lump in her throat; Cat didn’t think she could possibly cry anymore, but she felt dangerously close to it now. “Sam, it’s me. It’s Cat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat?” There was a small amount of commotion on the other line, like Sam had scrambled to get up. “Holy </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’ve been trying to call you all day! I heard about what happened on NewsNewsNews!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My phone is gone,” Cat said, resigned. The realization hit her that everything in her phone was gone, too: the hundreds of cherished photos of her with her friends, her parents and her brother, the songs she’s recorded with André and Jade and Tori and even the ones she’s recorded by herself. She hoped that she would be able to recover most of it from the Cloud. “Some nice lady at the hospital is letting me use hers. I tried calling Nonna but she didn’t pick up. Is she-?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoa, whoa, rewind for a sec. You’re at a hospital?” Sam interrupted. It was rare to hear her sound anything other than nonchalant; to hear her sound so concerned now was almost staggering. “Are you hurt?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little.” Cat sniffed lightly, a few stray tears falling down her cheek. It was getting harder and harder to speak without bursting into hysterics - she hadn’t realized how badly she wanted to break down until she heard Sam’s voice. “I’m with Beck. He’s - he’s not doing so well. The others...they aren’t here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause, however brief. “What do you mean they aren’t there, Cat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It means I don’t know where they are, or if they’re okay!” Cat cried, unable to hold it back any longer. “W-we were at the pool when the water hit us a-and now they’re just </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam was silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-Tori and Robbie were upstairs at the hotel,” Cat went on without pause. She was only vaguely aware of the Italian woman watching her, sympathy all over her face. “So - so I think that they’re okay. But Jade and André-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll call them,” said Sam abruptly. “I have Jade’s number. If she doesn’t answer, I have Tori’s somewhere in my messages. I can at least get her in contact with you, or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat’s heart leapt. “Really?” She sniffed, calming some, but only marginally. “You can?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she messaged me once,” Sam said offhandedly. “What hospital are you at?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Umm,” Cat glanced around her, trying to wrack her frazzled brain. She’d seen a sign on the way in, and then the name several times over in various hallways. “I think Mueang...Something? I don’t know. I can’t remember.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s good enough, Cat. I’ll let them know where you guys are,” Sam said confidently. Then, more soft-spokenly (which was odd, hearing from Sam), she said, “I’m glad you’re okay, Shortcake. You really had me worried there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too,” Cat whispered, trying to fight back more tears. “I...I have to go, Sam. I can’t waste this lady’s battery, and I have to call Beck’s family and let them know about - about him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, hang on a sec!” Sam exclaimed. “How can I get back in touch with you if I can’t reach Vega?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll call you when I can, promise.” She turned briefly to the woman, and when she spoke again her voice wavered, thick with tears. “I really have to go, I’m sorry, I love you, I’ll call you soon, okay? Please tell Tori.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat, wait-!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hung up promptly. She had to, if only to preserve this stranger’s battery; otherwise she didn’t think she would ever be able to. Speaking to Sam had brought on a new onslaught of feeling Cat hadn’t been able to sit down and process until now, too wrapped up in the chaos of everything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She just wanted to go home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Home once equaled her mother and father, who always told her they loved her but left her behind and cast her in the shadow of her big brother. Cat knew that it wasn’t Antonio’s fault and could never blame him for that: he was just wired a little differently than everybody else and he needed the attention more than she did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now though, home equaled Sam, and Sam - like Jade in her own way - kept her safe and would never admit to it outloud but would bend over backwards and steal whole television sets just to make Cat smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jade was her home, too. Jade was her </span>
  <em>
    <span>person, </span>
  </em>
  <span>more than anybody else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she had no idea if Jade was even okay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>If there is someone else you need to call, you can,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” said the woman in her native Italian, approaching slowly. Cat suddenly felt very guilty, but incredibly thankful for her kindness. The phone only had 21% battery life left on it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I won’t take long, I promise,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Cat replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman placed a gentle hand on her arm. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Take all the time you need, bambina.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat smiled at her gratefully, and nodded. She glanced down at her wrist and, with a steadying breath, dialled one of the numbers Beck had left for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took her to his father’s voicemail. Cat tried the other number, which she then presumed was his mother’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Voicemail, again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Low Battery notification popped up on the woman’s phone - now at 18%. She couldn’t risk completely killing the battery, and so she called his mother’s number again to leave her a hurried voicemail, updating Mrs. Oliver about her son’s condition, and that she shouldn’t call back as it wasn’t her phone. She just had to hope that, if Tori or Robbie had their phones, one of them would have been in touch with Beck’s parents, and her own. Or, their own parents had reached out to everyone else's. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes. Cat had to hope for that, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When all was said and done, she handed the phone back to the woman, who had pulled her into a hug Cat returned just as tightly and wished her well, and began the long trek back to the wing which Beck was being held.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her ankle was throbbing with each step. It was secured by the bootcast, but all the exertion was putting a strain on it. Still, Cat pushed on, rushing through the halls and wobbling precariously up and down the stairs. She’d been gone for hours - Beck, if not sleeping, was probably wondering where she was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took another fifteen minutes to find the waiting area Beck was in - she’d taken a wrong turn, then got all turned around for a little while. She was only able to recognize a few of the other patients and the faces of their family members. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beck’s hospital bed, however, was empty. His medical chart was gone, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat’s heart gave one mighty thump in her chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beck?” Cat called out as she approached the empty bed, looking in every direction. She didn’t care how loud she was, or if she was disturbing anybody else. Her friend was gone - he was just gone, and he’d told her he wasn’t going anywhere. “Beck!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a minor commotion coming from her right. A group of orderlies and nurses were pushing through the hall, carrying someone in a forest green sling. One of the nurses was holding a chart, and moved passed Cat to clip it to the end of Beck’s hospital bed. The orderlies made their way around other patients efficiently, maneuvering to the side of the bed - Cat was able to see that the person they were transporting was an older woman, who appeared to be unconscious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And they were moving her onto Beck’s now empty bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” She cried, trying in vain to stop them. “You can’t put her here! This is my friend’s bed, stop!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nurse that had clipped the chart to the railing grabbed her by the arms and guided her away while the orderlies gently lowered the unconscious woman onto the bed, speaking to her in rapid Thai. Cat ripped herself away from her, and turned in a panic to Beck’s neighbor - the woman who’d fixated on the ceiling all throughout the night and day - only to find the woman staring back at her. The look on her face was expressionless, but her eyes were watery and her bottom lip wobbled, almost imperceptibly, like she had something that she wanted to say but couldn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat almost wanted to shake her, </span>
  <em>
    <span>say something, you know where my friend is, tell me!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, she stumbled back and pressed her back up against the nearest wall. She slid down it, pulling her knees close to her chest, trying hard not to start hyperventilating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her ears were ringing again, but she couldn’t remember when they started. She didn’t think that they'd ever even stopped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her hands over her ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ringing only got louder.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>reviews much appreciated! the first seven chapters will be posted consecutively over the next few days, but they are all up on FFnet (under user madxworld).</p></blockquote></div></div>
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